Chester Zoo offers a wide range of volunteering opportunities, each designed to contribute to the zoo’s mission of preventing extinction and promoting conservation education. From visitor engagement to nature reserve maintenance, there’s a role for everyone who wants to get involved in the zoo’s vital work.
Visitor Engagement Volunteering
This role involves supporting visitors to have a world-class day out by providing orientation support, excellent customer service, and playful interactions with younger visitors. Volunteers are positioned at habitats to help visitors learn about zoo species and the conservation work done to protect them.
Education Volunteers
Education Volunteers guide school groups from the zoo entrance to classrooms and help learners understand workshops, artefacts, and education resources. They work closely with the conservation education team to provide exciting and informative learning experiences for young people.
Micro-volunteering
This involves contributing skills to Chester Zoo’s work from the comfort of one’s own home. Activities include writing subtitles for education resources, fact-checking resources, or participating in research. Some volunteers gain micro-volunteering hours by building new habitats for birds and hedgehogs, or monitoring and recording local wildlife.
Volunteering with Children and Young People
Volunteers work closely with Zoo Rangers to deliver fun and engaging workshops, clubs, and playful experiences for children and young people. This role aims to help the youngest generations understand wildlife through play, craft, and educational activities in the zoo, beautiful nature reserve, or enchanting woodlands.
Nature Reserve Volunteers
Chester Zoo’s nature reserve is a designated wildlife site, home to a variety of local wildlife. Volunteers support the field programmes team to protect birds at the reserve by looking after the bird feeders and monitoring visiting wildlife.
Community Hub
This platform encourages individuals to share their conservation and wildlife stories, get inspired by others, and learn how to act for wildlife from home or in their community.
Hedgehog Watch
This citizen science project invites volunteers to participate in monitoring local garden wildlife, particularly hedgehogs, to help protect these creatures and other UK wildlife.
Volunteering opportunities are advertised on the zoo’s volunteer recruitment page when available. The zoo does not offer any animal section volunteer roles, and volunteering cannot be used as an industrial placement.
Here’s a table summarizing the different volunteering roles at Chester Zoo:
| Volunteering Role | Description |
|---|---|
| Visitor Engagement | Support visitors, provide orientation, and engage with younger visitors |
| Education Volunteers | Guide school groups, help with workshops and education resources |
| Micro-volunteering | Contribute skills from home, such as writing subtitles or habitat building |
| Volunteering with Children and Young People | Deliver fun and engaging workshops and activities |
| Nature Reserve Volunteers | Support the field programmes team in protecting the nature reserve |
| Community Hub | Share conservation stories and learn how to act for wildlife |
| Hedgehog Watch | Participate in monitoring local garden wildlife, especially hedgehogs |
Chester Zoo’s volunteering opportunities are diverse and offer something for everyone who wants to contribute to the zoo’s mission. Whether you’re interested in visitor engagement, education, or hands-on conservation work, there’s a role that can match your skills and interests.
References:
– https://volunteernowcwva.com/volunteers/opportunity/10197726
– https://www.chesterzoo.org/what-you-can-do/volunteer/
– https://www.chesterzoo.org/what-you-can-do/